rock star

jack white photo by maddy julien. more of her concert photos are here.

live raconteurs mp3s, liverpool, 2006

[mp3] level
[mp3] together
[mp3] store bought bones
[mp3] broken boy soldiers
[mp3] steady as she goes

on their recent uk tour, the raconteurs made a limited amount of live cds available immediately after each show. [buy].

how awesome is that picture? rock star.

~ this post requires no more words ...

sightings of the guy, that guy, you know, the one with the haircut

spotted: obama and bono
peep some of the predictably genius comments at that link.

spotted: new bono photo
yer man is going to be honored at the naacp image awards on friday night. (televised by fox).

coming soon: part 6 of the super-awesome book list ...

bonus points if you know what the freak i'm talking about

pop candy blogs about arcade fire at snl
12:58 p.m. We're told to remain in our seats after the credits roll for a "special event." That event turns out to be a bonus 20-minute performance by Arcade Fire for the cast and audience ...An employee tells me she can't remember any band doing anything like this after a show except for U2.

black rebel motorcycle club is streaming 2 new awesome-sounding songs online.

ash is giving away their new single as a free download.

dudes, last night i went to this cocktail party-type event and there was a tiny little rock star with bombastic tendencies there. his hair has a history all unto itself. i would share more, but then this post would be even more boring than it already is his lyrics.

~ have a nice day !

(hard core) rock star sighting

sunday night in dublin at the 50th birthday party for renard's nightclub owner robbie king. via the irish independent.

"bono was the last guest to arrive, pulling up outside the restaurant with his wife ali shortly before 11pm ..."

~ rock 'n' roll!

do ya, do ya, do ya, do ya

the kaiser chiefs are fun. the visual evidence above comes courtesy of photographer peter hill. (check out more of his excellent rock photos here.)

the new kaiser chiefs album yours truly, angry mob is out today in the u.k. [buy]. (it's not out in the u.s. until next month.)

loved and hated in britain for their lots-of-record-selling, anthemic, poppy, synth-rock sound, the kaiser chief boys do a few things we like: put on a good show, put on a fun show and put on a good, fun show. oh, and name themselves after a soccer team. huzzah! (we like that.) they have been amusing me greatly with some recent comments they have made reacting to criticism of their success from the little punks in the arctic monkeys and the view.

kaiser chief keyboardist nick "peanut" baines: "of course, you slag off someone who’s doing well because obviously you’re being a lot more outrageous in your comments aren’t you? you realise that it’s all one big game but unfortunately the bands that choose to slag us off are taking it far too seriously. it’d be better if they were writing better songs than us but they’re not so they can shut up...it amuses me because it’s so transparent, so see-through what they’re doing that you’re like ‘well i can see clearly what your doing, i know now that i’m not to believe a word you’re saying and we’ll get on with what we’re doing and you get back to packing shelves in supermarkets again.” (via).

drummer nick hodgson says: "ambition's a dirty word, but everyone's got it. i think the stupid thing is people pretend they don't have any ambitions because they think that's cooler. as soon as they sell a few records, they soon change their tune." (via).

[mp3]
kaiser chiefs - ruby
lead single off the new record

[mp3]
kaiser chiefs - take my temperature (live)
off the e.p. lap of honour

visit: the kaiser chiefs

sunday bits

the cover story in this month's australian guitar magazine is a Q&A with the edge's awesome guitar tech dallas. an interesting read. scans of the article: 1/ 2/ 3/ 4 / 5
(via)

ireland 43, england 13

new arctic monkeys album preview

oh, liam ...

edun spring 2007 film

u2, arcade fire: love will tear us apart

[mp3]
u2 with arcade fire - love will tear us apart
live in montreal. 2005. pretty crap recording to be honest. win butler's mic is not even on for the whole song.

you read this perhaps?
arcade fire criticize u2, oasis, stones ...
win butler says "i don't know if u2 started it, or the stones or oasis but a lot of bands think in terms of: 'i'm going to be the biggest band in the world. fuck all those bands who've got no ambition'. i think that's a total crock of shit.

"there's nothing less interesting to me than the idea of marketing the fuck out of something so people are forced to like it. some bands are just manipulating people to buy music. that's how 90 per cent of the record industry works! it's basically the same as selling a fucking toaster or a cruise package."

i think dude just compared u2 to a toaster!

great. as if my relationship with my toaster really *needed* to be changed forever. for the past 2 days, every time i'm in my kitchen i look over at my toaster and say "oh, baby, you are so hot right now."

i totally need to call mr. win butler from arcade fire on the neon bible hotline. (very cool marketing idea, by the way).

and if i couldn't get through on the phone, i'd hang out this weekend and try to sneak in to see mr. win butler and arcade fire when they guest on saturday night live! (again, great *marketing* son!)

and i definitely definitely totally would leave comments about my love for mr. win butler and arcade fire on the (gazillion) music blogs that incessantly market (shhhh) his really not bad music.

download one of the recent nyc arcade fire shows here
(good audio quality)

oh, and the must-see link below? it might or might not be related to the above faux-drama, but i do love this clip and it is totally definitely absolutely hotter than my toaster. see for yourself:

**must-see youtube**: u2 on snl, 2004, i will follow
2:20 mark, singer jumps off of the stage. 2:40 mark, singer gets in the camera's grill. 2:50 mark, oh, here comes the guitarist into the crowd. 3:05 mark, singer mounts audience member. 3:10 mark, singer's lap dance gets very good. 3:30 mark, singer hugs amy poehler. 3:46 mark, amy poehler makes me proud, starts crying. 3:55 mark, the drummer's reaction says it all ...


~ peace

edge: not hard to find either

U2’s The Edge joined rugby stars Peter Stringer and Donncha O’Callaghan yesterday for a good cause.

The trio launched a charity golf classic to raise money for research into childhood leukaemia in May.

The inaugural Celeb-Am Golf Classic hosted by the Children’s Leukaemia Research Project (CLRP) will be held at Druid’s Glen on May 2.

The stars are pictured with Jessica Lawless, Leah Rooney and Wesley Barnes.

CLRP is a group of parents and medical staff at Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children working to raise funds to find new cures for childhood leukaemia.

via the irish independent

more info: children's leukaemia research project.

(thanx)

bono locator device: still working

christy and ed hanging out with yer man on tuesday night. ed's film the groomsmen is featured in this week's dublin international film festival.

do we need to discuss the beard?

no?

okay.

on a sunny day

[mp3]
on this day we met gambas pil pil - when no one is around
my scottish friend colin sent me this track because he felt it would strike a u2-ish nerve. it does. the start is not so uniquely promising, but the last minute freak fuzz is cool.

by the way, gambas pil pil is a yummy spanish prawn dish. taste the band here.

in unrelated news, i'm turning into a vegan and icicles are falling off of buildings where i live.

~ that about covers it.

uno, dos ...

i want that domino pendant.

live u2 mp3s, saitama, japan, december 4, 2006

[mp3] vertigo
she loves you, sunshine of your love

[mp3] beautiful day
presence of the lord

[mp3] bad
ruby tuesday

snippet mania. eric clapton was at this particular show, and beautiful day has the blind faith snippet, while vertigo gets the cream snippet. tried and true beatles and stones snippets also appear. the above songs are from an IEM "in ear monitor" recording which i would say is two hairs short of a soundboard and a bit wackier than a decent audience recording. it features a click track and some odd level adjustments on all the instruments. the guess is that this is bono's IEM feed. full show can be downloaded at u2 start or torrented at dime. (free registration and partial use of the left side of your brain required).

oh, and by the way, thom vs. noel = amusing . i wanted to yawn, but i laughed instead. i can't control my brain ...

i see you stare into space

[mp3]
calla - bronson
off the new album strength in numbers [buy].

an nyc via texas band, calla at times has a sort of chill out, hypnotic, ambient rock vibe. swirling layered guitars. other beats. lots of atmosphere and texture. their new album strength in numbers includes the song bronson, which *almost* reaches for bombast. not quite. (thankfully).

a few years ago, calla made the random, yet awesome choice to include a cover of u2's promenade on their album scavengers [buy]. quite different from u2's brief and breathless version, calla's take is slower, and almost desire-less. but, for real, people. who covers promenade? who!? major props.

[mp3]
calla - promenade
u2 cover from the album scavengers.

visit: calla

in wigged out, haircut related news, i am pretty confident that britney spears is now entering her j.t. leroy phase ...

random bits

gwyneth says new coldplay album will be insane

new interpol album is done. yay!

bono now so lame even north dakotans spurn him

john howard vs. obama meet john howard vs. bono

spice girls reunion may include a performance for bono's (red) campaign. (bono. dude. for real, guy. come on. not cool. we need to talk.)

~ peace

in the freeze frame

some people who perhaps should not be trusted too much sent me some tunes from a band whose sound they say is sometimes described as "u2-ish." decide for yourself:

[mp3]
the hourly radio - crime does pay

[mp3]
the hourly radio - deaf ears

visit the hourly radio here if you must.

this is what thursday night in nyc looked like. trust me. cold, dark and dirty. that's what i call "u2-ish." or not. man i need a real camera some sunshine.




~ peace

bono unbuttoned

hot? or not? voting is now open at people.com

check out the other options on that link. bono jovi is kicking bono's ass. hard.

holy freak-n-sense, peeps

check out eric's new u2 tattoo

a list, part 5: extrawack! book picks

the super-awesome book list will never die. ever. the list loves itself more than life itself and it demanded to make its return on valentine's day. in part 5, our nyc blog peep bob f. from extrawack! recommends some of his favorite music-related books.

previously:
part 1: my u2 reading list
part 2: best rock bios (says jukebox graduate)
part 3: music-related books that heather likes
part 4: dr. bob k's list focuses on the beatles

part 5 via extrawack!:

My fave rock book of all time is the Julian Cope (of The Teardrop Explodes) autobiography, Head-On, in which he chronicles his ascent from a nerd in Liverpool to global rock-star and subsequent nut-case.  My favorite anecdote in the book actually has to do with a Teardrop show at The Ritz in NYC that I attended, where he flung himself down a flight of stairs backstage before the show in order to injure himself badly enough to cancel the show and enable him to leave the tour to be with his girlfriend.
 
I'm also a big fan of Motley Crue & Neil Strauss' The Dirt, which follows The Crue from their Sunset Strip origins, through varying hair heights, celebrity wives & divorces, addictions, a case of vehicular manslaughter, break-ups and reunions.  Even if you are not of fan of that kind of music, the tales are so delicious and well-told that the book is a totally compelling guilty pleasure.
 
The best music book to come out in 2006 by far was Rip It Up And Start Again - Postpunk 1978-1984 by Simon Reynolds. My review is here.
 
**ALSO** highly recommended: check out mr. extrawack's review of another 2006 release—dirty blonde: the diaries of courtney love. his write-up includes a meeting between mrs. extrawack and ms. love. read that review here.

related:
larry mullen likes the teardrop explodes, too.

go visit mr. extrawack!

~ peace

consilience

bono and edge and bono's camo hat (photos are here) were at this week's dublin launch of consilience, charlie whisker's latest exhibition of paintings.

you should watch these

there are some cool (red) videos online with shaun white, chris rock, molly sims, charlie sheen, chester bennington (?) and the best one: kanye west. after the page loads, the videos can be found in the "spotlight" section.

carefully thought out reaction

to the police reunion tour

obama announces he has good taste in music

kicking off his presidential campaign with an intro of city of blinding lights, the senator left the stage to a different song—jackie wilson's your love keeps lifting me higher and higher. obama's advisers say he has not (yet) chosen an official theme song.

what i need to know is:
did obama provide this man with haircut advice ?

brian eno and timbaland might have to fight each other

coldplay mulling a timbaland collab

midlake: damn good

[mp3]
roscoe - midlake

saw midlake at bowery on friday. they were impressive. maybe one too many slow burners in the set, but overall, pretty glorious. at times 3 guys playing synth/keys. tim smith has this sweetly urgent voice. he totally harmonizes with everyone around him. even the guitars. and himself. it's pretty wack.

i know the cool kids like to compare midlake to fleetwood mac, but really? come on, people. midlake is way more proggy. plus, last time i checked, there are no criz-azy gypsy/witches in midlake. their stage set-up looks like a keyboard warehouse. for real. the whole band goes off into the atmosphere every now and then, but they always come back.



that camera-phone video is super-lame. in every possible way. it involves me a dingbat asking about the sound and dude asking said dingbat if she needs another beer.

yep.

one of midlake's openers was annie clark, aka st. vincent. up there on her own, she played keys, electric guitar and some stomping/distortion to create her own percussion. she rocks this weird combo of purity and total psycho-ness. sort of an amazing performer actually.

also, dude from entourage adrian grenier was there. this was confirmed by yetta. who went up to him. and confirmed it. (he is in a band. who knew?) plus, some dude apparently peed next to sufjan stevens. wow, a hipster boy's wet dream. yeah it is.

~ peace out.

it's friday, it's cold & rolling stone says ...

thanks to an anonymous person of tha internetz for the tip that the latest issue of rolling stone (maybe) refutes the bono to induct r.e.m. into the hall of fame rumor. see above: a nice little photo spread framed quite well with the johnny depp playing the u2 up on the left and the bono and the blair on the lower left and the vedder surfing on top of the ski bunnying james blunt on the facing page. very alice in wonderland. (the richie sambora shirtless on the beach, upper right? no comment.)



eddie vedder doesn't need one of those wussy longboards that other celebs use to catch a wave. the pearl jam leader, who in march will induct r.e.m. into the rock & roll hall of fame, rocks a pro's plank in hawaii.

keep in mind that also on these pages, rolling stone stretches the limits of rational thought by stating "u2 have begun work on their next album."

gratuitous photo:
mr. and mrs. rock star last sunday

i might even settle for one dollar

anyone have $10,000?

$599?

$24?

$2 ? anyone? anyone? meet me at the mud truck ...

~ peace

open up, begin again

[mp3]
radiohead - i might be wrong (live)
from earls court, 2003. fm broadcast recording. includes a snippet of u2's please near the end. you should go download the entire radiohead set here.

let's go down the waterfall
have ourselves a good time
it's nothing at all ...

related:
[youtube] u2 - please
best bono look. ever.

gratuitous things

photos:
mrs. b & rogan @ edun event / b @ edun / in utah last month
do you people see how much the hair grew in 2 short weeks? that's some magic shizz, yo ...

article:
coldplay talk about eno

remember the super-awesome book lists?
part 1: my u2 reading list
part 2: best rock bios (says jukebox graduate)
part 3: music-related books that heather likes
part 4: dr. bob k's list focuses on the beatles
part 5: coming up next ...

hall of fame: bono to induct r.e.m. ?

the rumor mill of "pretty reliable sources" says that the list of "inductors" at the march 12 rock and roll hall of fame ceremony might look like this:

patti smith inducted by bruce springsteen
r.e.m. inducted by bono
van halen inducted by kid rock
the ronettes inducted by beyonce
grandmaster flash inducted by ll cool j and/or puffy

even though i can't see past the first two lines above, you just know that the drama at this event is going to be all about van halen and their never-ending catfights. plus, it seems that vh1 is not airing the show this year. who is? anyone know? do their camera-people know how to make little people look big? they better!

rumors, rumors, rumors and all that ...

related: watch this !
a minute-long youtube clip of the edge inducting the clash into the hall of fame in 2003. he even makes fun of sting. really.

~ peace

bono: clean, articulate (and probably very cold) canoodler

fashion week breakdown: the bono accessorizes nicely with a scarf and a supermodel as he makes his way into the edun event last night in nyc.

ny post: eco friendly cabarets and other wackiness
Who knew Fashion Week was going to become the Zooey Deschanel show? The indie ingenue opened the ethereal Erin Fetherston runway show by singing the old standard "Dream a Little Dream." Then she performed at a wildly original cabaret show for Bono's wife Ali Hewson's organic, fair-trade casual-wear label, Edun.

During the politically charged program (they sang about gasoline, climate change and avoiding the draft), The Citizens Band played and Rain Phoenix did a solo, while Ali canoodled with Bono up in the balcony.

random bits ...

bono talks up utah's beauty
THE bono ??

a trailer is online for that julie taymor/beatlish across the universe movie
i am going to pretend that bono is not in this. and not looking really ... guh ... why ?

ny times joins the (u2-tax) party
Jeff Swystun, a global director at Interbrand, a brand consulting firm based in New York, said that “the Stones will always be credible because of a very simple proposition: we want to have a great party.” But U2, he said, “almost project themselves as a nonprofit, so the tax move doesn’t really fit with the brand values that they’re trying to communicate.”

Not so, says U2.

“U2 is a global business and it pays taxes globally,” said Mr. McGuinness, the band’s business manager, who, in an unusual arrangement, shares equally in the band’s earnings. “At least 95 percent of U2’s business — including record and ticket sales — takes place outside of Ireland and as a result the band pays many different kinds of taxes all over the world. U2 is fully compliant with all Irish tax laws.”

edun: cabaret act
Edun, the socially conscious clothing brand founded by rock star Bono and his wife Ali Hewson, figured out a clever way to avoid the skinny model issue altogether this season: hire a cabaret group to present the collection. Fifteen women and men in the musical troupe Citizens Band — including Sarah Sophie Flicker, Rain Phoenix, and Zooey Deschanel — are lined up to model Edun’s new collection at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week on Sunday night.

Ms. Hewson is expected at the event Sunday. But Bono is not, an Edun spokeswoman said.

~ peace out

speak of the devil ...

there is a 27-page u2 article in the march issue of q magazine. it's for the most part a history-type-thing; stuff that everybody already knows. i mean, everybody who cares. but... there are 2 parts worth reading. check out the brian eno q&a page and the rick rubin page. they both have some very interesting things to say. (click images to enlarge):





the larry/bono page up there is pretty important, too, by the way. it's not superfluous. at all.

scans via the fansite bono online. the full article is scanned and posted there. (free registration required).

related: eno + coldplay / grrrr ...

closer still ...

sunday night nyc fashion week schedule
edun event, 9 p.m. location = TBA

yeah, i don't know, guy, i mean my sunday night plans also happen to be TBA, but 9 p.m. on a sunday? wow that's kind of late for me. plus, there's that super bowl thing. so by TBA, i was thinking, i don't know, how about, maybe ... my couch ???

[mp3]
closer still - robert gomez

visit: robert gomez / edun

bands are curious things

mega big video file of bono and edge on hbo is uploaded here
it is 500+ megs, but if you haven't seen the "off the record" hbo talk show with bono, edge and dave stewart, which first aired last november, then obviously you need to DL this mofo right now. or else edge will start throwing down gang signs on you:



molotov has a post on the new america cd - with mp3s and analysis of why in the world america is being celebrated.

this kid thinks he can get bono to speak at his high school graduation.

neil mccormick examines band reunions (specifically the police)
"If there is something disheartening about pragmatism replacing idealism as the motivating force of our rock heroes, the simple fact is that reunions are good business, especially in a climate where middle-aged consumers spend more on music than young people ...

... When the Sex Pistols re-formed for a world tour in 1996, John Lydon made it clear that his band had buried their differences in filthy lucre. "We have found a common cause, and it's your money," he sneered. Life is long, and most musical careers are short. Bands often break up for ideological reasons at a time in life when they are not thinking about paying the mortgage, or putting children through college ...

Bands are curious things, the musical dynamic shaped by the personalities involved, and with age (and failing solo careers) it may become easier to recognise that. While his bandmates may be enthused by the possible profit margin, Sting certainly doesn't need the money. But he might be hankering after the challenge, perhaps even seeking out new musical inspiration.

During a backstage encounter with Bono at Live 8, it was reported that Sting asked the U2 singer: "When are you going to get rid of this band and be a proper artist?"

...

i'd beg for some forgiveness

... but begging's not my business

[mp3]
up the junction - the view
**re-uploaded** to savefile.

[mp3]
up the junction - squeeze

the little scottish boys in the view played this catchy cover for zane lowe on bbc radio last year. the cover version is available on the view's superstar tradesman single [buy it]. the squeeze original first appeared on the 1979 album cool for cats [buy it].

i'm pretty sure i never heard that squeeze tune until the mid-80s. we had that awesome squeeze singles tape. and all the silly people would sing pulling mussels for michelle instead of from a shell.

yep.

the view are coming through nyc again in march. last time they were here i missed them, but i am pretty sure it has been confirmed that they are babies ...

related:
[youtube]
wasted little djs - the view

~ peace